Mexico City's Airport, a Busy Crazy Place

Our airport has been plagued with problems for many years, with Mexico city being one of the largest in Earth, the need to travel by plane has been increasing year by year and the airport is in urgent need to grow or move. The second option was canceled by political pressure. Now, the option involves splitting part of the traffic to nearby Toluca airport.

Today, the construction of a second terminal is almost finished and the old one has been subjected to major renovations and extensive surgery to modernize it's structure.

Quick Tips:

Lack of proper signs to direct you to your destination has been one of the major problems, so be aware and have a map of the airport before your arrival.
The western half of the airport is for domestic flights and the eastern one is for international ones. If you have connecting flights, be sure you have enough time and ask your airline for help as soon as you land, because the is no internal people-mover, though there will be when Terminal 2 is operating on the other side of the landing strips, and the distance is a long one. You may have to walk half a mile from one end to the other in the worst case.

Best Way To Get Around:

Once you arrive at the airport by air, you need to get to the baggage claim area, but first you should pass through immigration. There are different halls, M1 and M2, which depends if you are arriving from South and Central America or from the rest of the world. The "special" treatment at M1 is because of all the drug related issues.
After you clear immigration, you have to pick up your luggage and after that you have two options for your customs hall, but they depend solely on which carousel your luggage comes to.
If you don´t have a pre-arranged shuttle, then is better to only use the authorized taxis, there may be some guys that will offer you a cheaper ride, but beware they may have bad intentions. Just ignore them as you would with a drug dealer.

From the choices available, this is the most Mexican you can get. The food is Yucatan style, which means that you will get cochinita pibil, which you must try.

Like any fast food in an airport, the prices are a bit above the average for the food but, in this case, is not too bad. It is still affordable if you are traveling on a budget and, more importantly, is tasty and filling.

I ordered the Salbutes with cochinita—you can order them with chicken pibil, but I wanted to try the pork first—and I was pleasantly surprised to get three well-sized fried tortillas with lots of toppings. In other places they just put a whisper of lettuce or avocado, here they are not shy and put proper rations. The price, just 39 pesos which is just 9 pesos above what you pay for three tacos in any local taqueria, not bad for being located at the airport. Service is very attentive, you order and pay and they will take your food to your table. It just took three minutes, less than what I had waited for a McD burger in a not so crowded restaurant. This is supposed to be fast food.

This is a very popular chain of Italian food, just one warning: the portions are Huge as their motto is that food is to share.

You will find this restaurant in the big malls and not surprisingly at the airport, where they don't share the common area, but a more discrete corridor, and yes, you can get a sidewalk table facing such corridor, ;) but you won't fight for a table at the food court common area as the restaurant is located a few steps further (towards the domestic area) and the service is regular as in any other restaurant of the chain, you will be seated by the hostess and a waiter would take your order, so plan your meal accordingly as that huge plate of lassagna won't arrive in 3 minutes, but the normal 15.

The food is good, not the best Italian place you can find, but very good quality and as mentioned before, portions are huge, you should be more than hungry or go with somebody to share the entrees, and be sure you save some room for deserts, those are very expensive (around usd$10 per slice) but again, they are so big that a normal person won't be able to finish one by himself after a hearty meal.

Buono appetito.

This an old chain of French bakeries in Mexico, they have top notch pastries and cakes, and now they also serve coffee and sandwiches. This is a great option whether you are waiting for an arriving passenger or waiting to catch a plane. The bakery is located just outside the Domestic Arrivals area, below the respective food court.

All kind of pastries from croissants to donuts, from cheesecake to thousand layers, and in top you also have great coffee and sandwich options for a larger snack.

El Globo is considered expensive by the majority of the population with such prices as $1.50 for a cream puff and whole cakes for $15-30 but the quality is very reliable and you will enjoy the cake every time.

To locate them, if you are facing the domestic passengers exiting the luggage retrieval carousels then look to the right, and exactly behind the stairway to the upper food court you will find a small locale with amazing cakes on the glass display. They have six tables for you to enjoy your coffee and cake while you wait for the plane.

NUTRISA is a national chain that sells health products from vitamins to soy meat, from yogurt ice cream cones to dietary aids. But they also offer sandwiches and fruit smoothies at the airport.

If you are flying from Mexico city's airport T1 you will find Nutrisa after the security check point in front of the common tables area of the fast food area. Of course, you can opt for a quick burger at BB or McDonalds, or a drink at many of the overpriced bars, but if you want to eat healthy this is the option.

Besides all the dietary aid pills and supplements, organic candies, etc. you will find that they sell yogurt ice cream cones, surimi or tuna sandwiches and fruit juices.

Every time I have to fly, I spend some time eating a surimi sandwich and a fruit smoothy instead of waiting at the departing gate among a hundred impatient guys.

For main dish you can opt for tortas, sandwiches (turkey, ham, chicken, surimi, tuna or 3 cheeses) and chicken, or tuna salads.

You can choose among the fruit juices or make your own combination, like orange with melon or guayaba, pineapple, papaya, etc.

Being a healthy food store does not mean you will lack the sweets, there are plenty of them in the form of oatmeal cookies, honey caramels, granola bars, and fruit salads, everything very fresh.

The price being at an airport are not that bad, much better than paying for a burger and fries.

After your plane lands and you disembark, you need to find immigration. Follow the signs, but pay attention as there are two different halls, one is for flights arriving from the Caribbean, and Central and South America: M2. The other is for the rest of the world: M1.

At immigration, you need to hand over the forms you got on the plane. There are giant examples on the hall if you have doubts. Passing immigration is easy if you have all your papers in order but it may be a lengthy process if there are many planes landing at the same time, as not all the booths work simultaneously.

After you pass immigration, you have to find your carousel, but that part is easy as each one displays the airline, flight number, and city from where you came.
Next comes the funny part at Customs. After you hand your customs form to the agent, you have to press a button. It's like a raffle, you either get a red or green light. Red means you will be searched, Green means that you "may" not get searched, but if you look suspicious enough, the agents have the right to ask you to open your luggage no matter the color of the light.

The domestic area of each terminal are beehives because MEX is the airport that links the whole country, if you want to travel from Tijuana to Cancun, it's most likely that you will have to change planes in MEX. Routes are so crazy that if you want to fly from Veracruz to Villahermosa, both on the Gulf Coast, there are great chances that you have to pass through MEX! Totally insane.

After that preamble, you will understand why this terminal is so congested and chaotic.

T1 the original one.--
You use this terminal to flight with Mexicana, Interjet, and some charter airlines.
Recent changes in T1 had added a second level to the services area and a new funny-looking roof. The roof gives ample sunlight during the day and is illuminated with colored lights during the evenings, creating an interesting effect.
Unfortunately, they forgot to add a second level on the street side, so arrivals and departures could be separated like most of the airports worldwide.

Looking from the outside, arrivals area begins at Gate 1 and goes up to Gate 3. At the tip of the building are the authorized taxis, if you are new to Mexico city I strongly suggest you take these.
The subway station is very close, about a four-minute walk, but if you are carrying a big suitcase or huge backpack, the metro is not an option, neither is it if you are going to the Hotel Zone in Chapultepec or Downtown, as connections are not as smooth as they should be.

At the time of departure, you will be dropped between gates 4 and 7, just look at the name of your airline besides the gate number. Walking long distances with your huge suitcase and a couple of sombreros and bottles of tequila won't be easy.

As you would arrive with plenty of time to spare, you can grab an affordable bite in the food court above Domestic Arrivals. Or you can get past security and get a more expensive meal in the inner food court where you can opt between McDonalds or Burger King to Krispy Cream donuts, to healthy food and ice creams, or a stiff drink at any of the bars.

T2 the "modern" building.--
If you flight with Aeromexico or Aeromar you need to use T2, the newer building which is somehow better in terms of comfort and space, but the entrance by car is somehow a bit more complicated as you have to use a roundabout shared with the international area and limited unloading space. Once you unload the car head towards the Left entrance and you will find the counters for Aeromexico and Aeromar, in the middle of the hallway you can use the Aeromexico self serve kiosks if you are only flying with carry-on luggage, you can get your boarding pass and off you go to pass security.
The domestic area of T2 holds very few food options and those are certainly over priced, so plan on eating before taking your ground transportation or stopping at the outer fast food court before heading to security.

One last observation, the builders of T2 had a weird vision, the building's facades are just the very very thick walls with small round windows (not too different from a cupcakes rack), not enough Sun light gets inside, and the waiting areas are separated from the docking gates by a "security trench", in my opinion it looks like a modern jail.

If you don't have a pre-arranged shuttle to your hotel, you should stick to the authorized taxis. They are more expensive than the ones you can catch on the street, but those are not allowed to pick passengers at the airport. And the guys that sneakily approach you and whisper in your ear if you need a taxi are illegally doing it and you are at risk of being robbed or worst, we call them "pirate taxis".

Once you exit customs, look for the taxi booths. There are two companies competing for your favor, one company has large vans and suburbans, the other one, only sedans. Choose according to the number of people in your party or the amount of luggage you have with you. I´m attaching the most recent rates posted on the glass of the booths as of April 2007.
Rate is dependent on the distance and zone, just check the map and tell the cashier your destination making sure he/she understands and that the price is right.

Of course, if you are a local in Mexico city you know there are other options, like radio taxis, "taxis de sitio" or private drivers, but you need to get a number before arriving.

Just for your info:
Downtown (Zocalo) would be zone 3, hotels along Reforma avenue zone 4 and the hotel zone in Chapultepec is in zone 5.
One more tip, extra luggage is charged according to the same table, the drivers are very strict on the number each passenger carries.

After you purchase your ticket, follow the directions to the nearest pick up spot. Depending on your arrival hall, it may be a couple gates away. The vehicles are white and yellow with a black drawing of a plane on the side. If they don´t have this markings do NOT take it, go back to the booth and ask for help.

Enjoy your visit to this huge city.

Updated info.

T2 handles some of the airlines that are part of SkyTeam: Aeromexico, Continental, Delta and NorthWest so far, plus Aeromar, a regional airline.

On the second level after you check in at the counter, you can spend some time at the fast food court which is to the Right side of the round about, just before the parking lot. Around the airport there are several convenience stores (7-eleven and Oxxo) for a quick snack at lower prices than the costly restaurants.

There is a temporary museum showroom with interesting offerings. If you need banking services, there are several branches on the lower level.



Finally the architects and authorities got the idea of a two level building, upper level is for departures and lower for arrivals. If you see the building from the roundabout for cars, Domestic is on the Left and International on the Right.

T2 is linked to T1 by an Automated People Mover (APM) that takes around seven minutes to do the trip each way but, as there is just single track laid, it requires around 10 minutes to unload and load the wagons. Only passenger holding a printed itinerary or boarding pass are allowed to take the train, and only if you a traveling towards your departure terminal.

T2 has it's own access roads and parking areas, so you don´t need to go to T1 for any other thing than a connecting flight. There is even a Metro subway station nearby (but not easily accessible on foot).

The original terminal - T1 is a very long stretch of corridors, is like a Frankenstain building as it was being patched over the years to make additions and more additions to hold all the airlines and the huge traffic that pass through its gates everyday.

When you arrive by car the first section you see is the domestic area, first the arrivals -Gates 1 through 3- and then departures -Gates 4 to 7- Look for the name of your airline as they are distributed along the building: Mexicana and it's filial company Click) followed by Aviacsa, Magnicharters, etc.

After external Gate 8 the International section begins and here is like most international airports ground level for arrivals and upper level for departures, E1 through E3 with the airlines clearly marked. The parking lot is located on top of the building and the access is a bit farther than the descending ramp for drop offs, be careful and cross the road towards the left and you will enter the corridor leading to the ticket machines. Once inside the parking lot, locate the 8 elevators which are terribly slow and not all of them work simultaneously. Rember to pay on the way out at the automated cashier machines to avoid a big line at the human cashier.

Airtrain
If you need to connect to a flight operated by a Skyteam airline you need to take the airtrain to get to T2, go inside the building and around door 7 go upstairs and locate the skybridge, midway you will find the entrance to the airtrain, you need a boarding pass or your printed reservation or itinerary clearly showing the airline name and flight info otherwise the security person won't let you pass, if this is your case, go downstairs and catch a suburban or a bus that will charge you $5 pesos for the trip to T2.